Privacy policy

This policy describes what CanMyPcPlay actually does with data. It describes the current implementation — where a feature is not enabled, we say so rather than reserving rights we are not exercising.

Your PC specifications

PC profiles you create in the checker are stored in your browser's local storage. They are not sent to us and not associated with any identifier. Clearing your browser storage deletes them permanently — we hold no copy.

When you run a compatibility check, the selected component identifiers are sent to our server so the comparison can be calculated. The result is returned and nothing about your configuration is written to our database.

If you create an account and choose to save a PC profile to it, that profile is then stored on our servers against your account, and you can delete it at any time.

Accounts

Accounts are optional — every core feature works without one. If you create one we store your email address, an optional display name, and a hashed password. Passwords are hashed with bcrypt and are never stored or logged in readable form. Sessions use a signed, HTTP-only cookie.

Aggregate usage counters

To power “Trending searches” and “Popular right now”, we keep a running count against normalised search terms and titles. These are counters only. We do not store IP addresses, user agents, session identifiers or user accounts alongside them, so they cannot be traced back to an individual.

Reports you submit

If you use the “Report an issue” form, we store what you submit so an editor can review it. Supplying an email address is optional; if you do, it is used only to reply about that report.

Rate limiting

To prevent abuse, our API endpoints count requests per client for short windows. The derived key is held in memory only, is not written to any database, and expires within minutes.

Cookies

We set a session cookie only if you sign in. Your theme preference and PC profiles use local storage, not cookies. See the cookie policy for the full list.

Analytics

Analytics are not currently enabled on this deployment. The integration exists and is controlled by an environment variable; if it is switched on, this section will describe it and the cookie policy will list the cookies involved.

Advertising

Advertising is not currently enabled on this deployment — ad containers render as empty placeholders and no advertising scripts are loaded. If AdSense is switched on, Google and its partners may use cookies to serve ads based on prior visits to this and other sites, and this section will be updated to say so.

Affiliate links

We currently run no affiliate links. Hardware suggestions come from the publisher's published requirement, not from any commercial arrangement. The database supports affiliate URLs for future use; if any are ever added, they will be disclosed on the pages where they appear.

Data sharing

We do not sell personal data. We do not share it with third parties except where a service is required to operate the site — currently our hosting and database providers, plus any analytics or advertising service explicitly enabled above.

Your rights

You can request access to, correction of, or deletion of any personal data we hold about you by contacting us. If you have an account, deleting it removes your profiles and saved items. Note that the aggregate counters described above contain nothing personal and therefore cannot be individually deleted.

Children

This site is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from them.

Changes

If this policy changes materially, the date at the top will be updated. We do not claim certification under any privacy framework, and we do not describe compliance we have not actually implemented.

Contact

Privacy questions can be sent through our contact page.